Applying cartosemiotics to rock art: an example from Aspeberget, Sweden

Abstract

This study aims to shed new light on the petroglyphs found at the site of Aspeberget 12 at the World Heritage site of Tanum, Sweden, from a semiotic perspective. We demonstrate the semiotics of power inherent in the arrangement of the petroglyphs. We start by describing the site in an archaeological way, in order to give an overview of the empirical material used in this case study. Against the backdrop of the overview, we introduce our analytical tools with reference to cartosemiotics, cultural semiotics and, Charles Sanders Peirce's theory of signs. We suggest, in a tentative conclusion, that Aspeberget 12, as a type of "map", displays a clear "Ego-culture" and a possible journey. We also suggest that the visual narratives at Aspeberget 12 represent the authority of the Ego-culture and its development. Details of the figurative images such as ships, axes and spears might have been displayed as markers of the high technological standard of the Ego-culture, and thus of power.

Qualia in late precolonial Pueblo rock art: An exploration of conventionalized sensorial experience in Rio Grande Style petroglyphs

“…In another recent study, Tapper and colleagues (2020) highlight the fluid meanings of Algonquin rock art, which indexes reciprocal relationships between ‘humans, other-than-humans, animals, and places’ within changing semiotic ideologies. Although more archaeologists now recognize the usefulness of Peircean models in exploring the relational meanings of rock art, the concept of qualisigns is only rarely employed (see Danielsson, 2015; Rédei et al, 2019; Swenson, 2020).…”

Narrative Aspects of Images of Spear Use in Scandinavian Rock Carvings

“…Here, we build on our previous attempts to analyse rock art from the perspectives of semiotics and narratology (Ranta et al, 2019(Ranta et al, , 2020Rédei et al, 2019Rédei et al, , 2020. In particular, this interpretative framework will be applied to a specific group of motifs in rock art, namely depictions of spear use.…”

“…The underlying assumption is that there was a cluster of Indo-European myths and rituals shared across a large part of Europe, which can be traced to various sources such as Greek mythology, north European folklore, and Bronze Age material culture (Kristiansen, 2010: 99). Here, we build on our previous attempts to analyse rock art from the perspectives of semiotics and narratology (Ranta et al, 2019, 2020; Rédei et al, 2019, 2020). In particular, this interpretative framework will be applied to a specific group of motifs in rock art, namely depictions of spear use.…”

Seeing different motifs in one picture: Identifying ambiguous figures in South Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art

“…Peirce elaborated a sophisticated system of signs which rests on the assumption that humans use signs to make sense of the world, and that understanding the world is based on an endless interpretation of signs (see e.g., Preucel & Bauer, 2001;Rédei et al, 2018 for the application of semiotics to archaeology). Already from an early age, human children start to interpret the world in terms of signs (e.g., A.…”

“…This is the case at Aspeberget in northern Bohuslän where five cows appear in close association to ships (Figure 6). Three of these are aligned to a large ship and approaching it almost as if embarking the vessel (Ling & Rowlands, 2015;Rédei et al 2018).…”